Bill and Gloria Gaither to Host Public Memorial for Joey Feek

Gospel music legends Bill and Gloria Gaither will host a public memorial service for Joey Martin Feek in her hometown of Alexandria, Ind., on Sunday (March 13).

Feek was beloved to fans of traditional country music and gospel as half of the married duo Joey + Rory, along with her husband, Rory Feek. The couple first came to public attention in 2008 when they placed third on the television reality singing competition Can You Duet. They released their debut album, The Life of a Song, in October of that year, and hit the Top 40 hit with its lead single, “Cheater, Cheater.” Joey + Rory released a total of six studio albums encompassing country, bluegrass, gospel and Christmas songs, and also starred in a variety show on RFD-TV. She passed away on March 4 after a long and valiant battle with cancer.

Bill and Gloria Gaither live in Joey's hometown of Alexandria, and they are longtime supporters of the duo, who released their final album, Hymns That Are Important to Us, via the Gaither label. They are also friends of Joey's family, and they were on hand to support the singer after she ceased her treatments and returned to Alexandria to spend her final days with friends and family, as Rory described in his blog, This Life I Live.

Rory and the couple's 2-year-old daughter Indiana have returned home to their farm in Tennessee, where Joey will be buried in a private service, but the Gaithers will host a public service in memory of Joey on March 13 at the Alexandria-Monroe High School gymnasium in her hometown at 2:30PM, along with Rev. Jerry Young and Mike Owens. Rory and Indiana will return to be in attendance, along with Heidi and Hopi, his older daughters from a previous marriage whom Joey stepped in and helped to raise. Members of Joey's family will also be present.

“Joey was one of a kind," Bill Gaither says in a press release. "We all will miss that sweet, transparent spirit.”